Carrying In Cold Weather?
It’s been extremely cold here in Kentucky for the past couple of weeks. The kind of cold that makes you limit your outside movements and to layer up more than usual when you do have to go outdoors. But threats still exist, even in the cold, making our need to protect ourselves from them just as important regardless of the weather. During my days on patrol I had the luxury of wearing a pistol on my hip and a warm winter coat with a split in the side made to go around that pistol and still give me good access to it.
My Carhartt jacket, however, does not have that same access zipper on the side. (Nor would my somewhat deteriorating sense of fashion allow me to wear it in public if it did). The only viable option for one wanting to defend themselves adequately in such a situation is to train for it. Here are just a few of the things that I recommend to better equip yourself for such situations:
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Practice drawing from underneath thick layers of clothing.
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Training with gloves on. The actual gloves you might be wearing.
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Dry firing with gloves on.
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Practicing drawing and shooting (or dry firing) after you’ve been outdoors for a few minutes and your body is starting to react to the temperature.
As I so often say, “train the way you fight”. Simply put, wear the clothing you might possibly be wearing when you are forced to defend yourself. See what works and what doesn’t. Don’t simply trust the fact that you shot on the range on a perfect 75 degree day and expect the same tactics to work during a January ice storm, because they won’t!
Stay safe and train!